Struggle
by DarkNekoGirl
Summary: Born and raised in the roughest parts of LA, Nami has never had any friends or felt love for the longest time possible. But, then when a straw hat boy appears in her life followed by a series of strange events Nami's life is turned upside down. AU
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello there! This is my first One Piece story, but if I did anything wrong don't go easy on me. I'm strong! I can take it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece.

* * *

**

Fear. Anger. Despair.

These are all feelings a normal human being feels at least once in a lifetime. These are things are somehow essential to life…no matter how much pain they may bring. It's impossible for a person not to feel at least one of those dreaded emotions even if it's just a little hint of it. Some people are lucky enough not to experience a major dose of these emotions. Some people aren't so lucky. They are surrounded by these feelings everyday and feel hopeless and weak. One of these people is a 15-year-old girl who has been experiencing these feelings since the day she was born.

Her name is Nami.

Brought up by the tough urban streets of the poorest place in LA, she lies on a tattered old bed hugging a pillow to her chest. Looking at her, you would suppose she is a street rat who lives off peoples' donations. Truth be told, many of her "neighbors" live that way. She is a scrawny kid who hides her body under baggy dirty clothing. She has a dirty face with equally dirty hair with scratches and cuts all over her body. Her hair that used to be a lovely orange is now caked with dirt and whatnot and has reduced to a mousy brown.

But…

If you look at her ruby-orange eyes you would be taken aback. Those eyes are filled with determination and strong willfulness. The way she juts out her chin as she walks ignoring the talk of people who happen to pass by her feeble orange stand. _How can she stand there?_ They would think. Surely she can't make a living selling oranges. The simple idea would make one laugh. Yet, they have not felt the pain Nami has been through and she is not about to give up just because of a couple of ignorant laughing idiots.

No…She won't listen to them. She'll make her own way. If it's by stealing, she'll do it. If it's by selling oranges, damn she'll do it!

Wha—Stealing? Yes you heard right, stealing. Our little Nami here is not an average street rat with a low intelligence count. No, she's a clever little thief who steals of course. Now, if people were to know they would say, "How terrible! That girl shouldn't steal! It's wrong!" Ah, yes stealing is wrong and Nami knows it. That's why she never steals more than she needs and she only steals from wealthy people or as she calls them, "greedy rich bastards."

There's nothing wrong with her, she never steals major things or anything with sentimental value. Come on, a thief has got to have _some _honor right? Right!

Anyway, Nami has always been alone and by herself and she plans to keep it that way. She never had time for friends and there is no time when you're out trying to survive. Sure, if you call the little group she's known since she was a baby, "friends" she's got plenty of friends. "Friends" is probably the hardest word to her for all she needs is money and mikan. That's what she says….

But, she has no idea how wrong she is.

She has no idea how her ideal on life is about to change…

* * *

"Come back here you little thief!"

A small figure darted through the crowds running away from the group of men chasing her. She chuckled under her breath. "Losers, you'll never catch me!" she whispered to herself running a little bit faster. The men growled and continued the chase the leading one holding a cane in his hand. The girl is right though. No matter how much they chase her, it will to no avail. She knows every alley and corner and street in LA.

Soon enough she turns a sharp corner and loses herself in the crowd. The men stop abruptly and pause extremely confused. The leader turns his head his brow furrowed and eyes narrowed in anger. He clenches his fist. No sight of the thief. "Damn it," he swore and waved at his men to leave. "It's no use," he calls, "she's gone."

The men sigh and lower their canes and whatnot and walk away muttering to themselves about how they couldn't believe a little twerp escaped them.

Meanwhile, the "little twerp" hiding near the dumpster grinned widely. She punches her fist to the air. "Yosh!" she crowed, "Victory goes to Nami once again!" She smiled again and walks away whistling to herself. Turning the many winding alleyways and sharp corners she walked at ease as if she knew the entire place by heart. Anyone else would probably get lost immediately. Not her. She's walked these alleyways too long to forget them.

She gingerly lifted her feet over a smashed beer bottle. She winced at the sight of leftover alcohol still clinging to the glass and made her way to a small tattered bar. A sign hung over the worn out walls. It read "Kokoyashi Pub." She smiled fondly at the sight before making her way inside.

Just as she expected it was empty. She looked around at what used to be a successful bar. The tables have lost legs and the chairs are left in splinters. A fine layer of dust covers almost everything in sight. She walks over to the bar tabled and gently grazes her fingers against the old wood. Resting her fingers there her gave wanders over to the shelves where many assorted drinks used to lay. Now all that remained were old empty bottles, many which are already smashed.

Nami shook her head hard ridding herself of all depressing thoughts that started to seep in her mind. She walked over behind the bar table and towards a door hanging on its hinges. She gently pushed it until there was enough room for her small figure to slink through. Closing the door shut behind her she walked down the hallway. The bar wasn't that big, but it was big enough for her to reside in. There were several unused rooms that she never went inside anyway so she didn't really care. She walked towards the room whose door had "Nami" scratched on it in a childish scribble. She gave a bitter smile. This room held many memories, many, which were ones, she rather not think about.

She went inside and surveyed her room with distaste. It consisted of a small bed which was big enough to hold a full grown adult and a medium sized child, a small dresser with a dusty mirror above it, a chest that held all the clothes she owned, and finally a small crack in the floor under the chest where all her money was stored. The walls were a faded blue, but the paint was peeling off slowly. If she wanted she would buy a can of paint and repaint these dreary old walls. Maybe a clearer blue or orange. Yeah….that would be nice…

Unfortunately it is merely another fantasy Nami has cooked up in her mind. She had way better ways to spend the money she had, though sometimes she wished she could just go to the nearest mall or something and spend all her money on lovely and glorious things. Nami smacked herself on the head. "Get it together Nami!" she scolded herself shoving her hands in her pockets and retrieving the wallets she had taken from the men before.

Ha. They called her a thief. Most of the men had FIVE wallets in their pockets. Now she wondered how all those wallets got in there? Nami grimly stared at the wallets. _They probably stole them as well._

Nami quietly emptied all the wallets her eyes widening as more and more money came out. With trembling hands she began to count the money anticipating the final amount.

"One thousand beli," she stated dumbly once she had finally finished falling on her knees. "One thousand beli," she repeated scooping up a handful of money and holding it to her face. "ONE THOUSAND BELI!" she cried out loud in joy jumping up and down throwing the money around. She started to skip around her small room chanting, "One thousand beli, one thousand beli, one thousand beli!"

In her happiness she had accidentally bumped into her dresser causing one of the drawers to fall out and the contents inside to scatter. Nami froze as she watched all the papers scatter about in the air before landing gently on the ground. "My maps!" she shrieked before dropping all the money she had. She ran to the papers and began to pick them up carefully making sure not a single smudge or crinkle got into her hard worked papers.

After she had carefully organized all her papers and put back the drawer in the right place she walked over to her bed and sat there simply staring into space. Those maps had brought make memories…such painful memories she couldn't bear to think about them. No…no more pain…She didn't want to go through the numbness of remembering.

Nami felt her eyes sting as the beginning of tears started to form in her eyes. Before she had any time to cry though, she heard a loud, THUMP.

Nami blinked several times, before springing into action, jumping up and running to the corner of her room where she grabbed what seemed to be three pieces of wood. She quickly put them together as she ran out of the room towards the front of the bar. The pieces of wood ended up making a long cane, which she now held protectively in front of her as she cautiously walked towards the front entrance.

THUMP. THUMP.

There it was again. It distinctly sounded like someone punching another but before she could think more on the matter the door flew open. Nami raised her cane in alarm ready to strike.

…Nothing.

Nami looked incredulously at the now open door. There had to be someone there. Without lowering her cane Nami walked over to the door when she stepped on something crackly. She blinked and looked down to see….

….a straw hat?

BAM!

The door flew open once again which much more force now. Nami gasped. Someone was right in front of here! Nami, not caring who it was, pounded the cane on the said person's head. The figure paused for a moment and as it stumbled into the light, Nami realized that it was a boy who was around her age!

The boy blinked and opened his mouth. Nami waited nervously her hands sweating from the fact that she was clutching the cane so hard.

"Boshi."

That was all the warning Nami got before the strange boy fell onto her making her scream in terror. She slammed her head on the floor and was immediately knocked unconscious.

Kokoyashi Pub was empty…except for two teens entangled in each other on the floor, unconscious and a tattered straw hat with a forgotten cane next to it.

* * *

**A/N: How was it? Good? Bad? Please give me your comments! I really need them and if there is anything wrong with my writing or anything tell me! Sorry if there was any OOC. **

**P.S. Anyone who guesses who the mystery boy is gets a cookie! Anyone who gets it wrong...**

**Press the pretty purple button please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello there! I was pretty happy with my reviewers, and thanks Kosmic and Invader Spyder for answering my PM's! Anyways I have BIG plans for this story, so I hope you stay with it! This chapter is pretty long so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. That brilliant piece of work belongs to Oda-sensei.**

**Warning: There is slight fluff (though I didn't mean for it to be like that) in the beginning depending on how you look at it.

* * *

**

_A small dark-haired boy clutched the rough hand of his older brother. He bit his lip and looked around. This place…it was scary. They were in a completely white room, so white that the light made the intensity of the white ten times stronger. The boy whimpered at the strength of the light and gripped his brother's hand even tighter. His brother looked down at him and gave him a reassuring smile before raising his head to look straight on ahead. The boy was not assured at all. Something was going on…something bad… He could feel it…something cold had settled in his stomach. This was not good at all._

_"Nii-chan," he whispered shaking his brother's arm. His brother remained still. "Nii-chan," he whispered more urgently shaking his arm even harder now. His brother looked down on him again a startled look on his face. His brother looked back at him an expression on fear on his face. The older one sighed before kneeling down to face him._

_"What is it Luffy?" he asked calmly though inside he felt disturbed as well. When they were called here, he had no idea what to expect. Now, standing here in this cold room, he felt an even stronger feeling of dread. Luffy stared at him with determined dark eyes._

_"Come on, nii-chan. Let's get out of here," he hissed clutching his arm even tighter now. His brother's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose._

_"Are you stupid or something? We can't just break out! They'd catch us for sure," his brother snapped slightly. Luffy bit his lip before looking dejectedly down at his feet. His brother sighed at the sight of Luffy's crestfallen face. He ruffled Luffy's hair slightly but got no response from him. He got worried now. "Luffy?"_

_"You're afraid too aren't you Ace?"_

_He blinked surprised. This was the first time Luffy had ever called him by his first name. It had always been "nii-chan." When did Luffy get so serious?_

_Ace sighed tiredly, "What do you mean Luffy?" he asked rubbing his eyes. God, he really needed to get some sleep…_

_Luffy didn't answer. He clenched his small fists and looked down at the floor._

_"I-I—" He never got to finish what he wanted to say. The door across from them opened and a large man in black came out. He walked over to them until his menacing form was hovering over them. He smirked before pointing at Ace._

_"You. Come. Now." Ace frowned. Obviously this grunt was incapable of speaking in complete sentences. Luffy looked fearfully at the man before turning to look at Ace. Were they going to take his brother away from him?_

_"No!" he cried quickly grabbing Ace's hand and glaring at the large man in front of them. The man growled. Ace smirked. 'Not bad, little brother,' he thought also glaring at the large brute.  
He put a hand on Luffy's head before saying, "Luffy's right. Where I go, he goes. I don't plan on leaving my only baby brother behind." Luffy smiled happily at Ace's words and nodded firmly at the man in front of them. The man growled again before lunging at Ace. Ace quickly dodged the man grabbing Luffy with him._

_He smirked triumphantly before looking up at the man. His smirk was quickly washed away and replaced with a look of horror. The brute held a gun and was aiming right at Luffy. Luffy's eyes were wide with fright and he was practically shaking. Ace had to act quickly. He could—would not allow his brother to get hurt._

_"I'll go." Luffy turned to look at Ace. A determined look was placed on his face. He stepped forward and the man kept his gun steady. He eyed Ace curiously._

_"What?" Ace inwardly groaned. 'Stupid brute…'_

_"I said I'll go," he repeated loudly. Luffy screamed._

_"Ace! No! What if they do something bad to you?" Ace only smiled reassuringly at his brother._

_"Stop being such a worrywart. I'll be fine," he stated walking over to the man. He looked at him before saying, "You can put that down now," gesturing towards the gun. The man reluctantly put his gun back in his pocket. Then he grabbed Ace by the collar. Luffy gasped and started forward, but the man gave him a warning look and innocently patted the pocket where his gun was. Luffy stopped in his tracks. Would this evil man really shoot Ace?_

_Ace swore inside his head. If Luffy kept up his stupid antics, he would get himself killed! "Oi," he called referring to the man who held him in his grip. The man raised his eyebrows. Ace offered him a lazy smile before jerking his head towards the door. "Shouldn't we be going?" The man paused before nodding and began walking towards the door dragging Ace along with him. As they passed Luffy he whispered, "Be safe Luffy."_

_And then he was gone._

_Luffy stood there frozen, his eyes staring at the place where his brother was. 'Why?' he thought the beginning of tears starting at his eyes, 'why do I feel as if that's the last time I'll ever see Ace?' He sank down to his knees gripping both of his shoulders with his hands.The once brilliantly white room seemed so dark now. He wouldn't cry. But…_

_"Nii-chan," he whispered hoarsely allowing his nails to drive deeper into his skin. What was he going to do? What if those people did bad things to him? How was he supposed to live without his big brother?_

_Luffy was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice the other door open again. He didn't notice another man in black come inside holding the arm of another person. He didn't notice when the man shoved the person into the same room as him. He didn't notice soft footsteps walking towards him.But, he did notice a feather like touch on his shoulder. He jumped violently and turned to see who touched him._

_He looked right into a pair of crystal blue eyes that adorned a tanned face. Raven-black hair flowed straight down and ended at shoulders covered in cuts. Now that he looked at her closely he realized cuts and bruises covered her entire body. Yes, her. It was a girl. A girl, who looked a little older than he was but younger that Ace, was staring right at him. Dark hair and tannish skin. Her bright blue eyes didn't seem to be the sort that would be placed on a person with looks like hers. But, for some reason it seemed to suit her._

_Silence graced them for a bit. They did nothing but look at each other, unspoken words exchanged. Finally she spoke._

_"Why are you crying?" she asked in a soft voice her gaze unwavering. Luffy blinked. Crying? What was she talking about?_

_"I'm not crying," he responded stubbornly crossing his arms. No girl would tell HIM off. The girl said nothing but leaned over and touched his face gently with her fingers. Luffy felt like backing away. He had never been touched by a girl besides his mother. He closed his eyes as if he were afraid she would hurt her. As if reading his mind she spoke softly._

_"I won't hurt you." Luffy's eyes flew open and he stared at the girl his mouth slightly open._

_"Are you a mind reader or something?" he blurted out loudly. A small, amused smile tugged at the stiff lips of the girl. She shook her head and showed Luffy her fingers. They were wet. Luffy blinked. "Why are your fingers wet?" She smiled the tiniest of smiles once again at his innocence._

_"They are wet because of your tears," she stated leaning back and sitting down on the ground. Luffy frowned again._

_"I'm not cry—"_

_The girl gently grabbed Luffy's hands and led them to his face. When his fingers made contact with his face he realized that he indeed was crying. He stared at the girl._

_"I am…" he gasped out, "I'm crying…" More tears sprang into his eyes. Not wanting the girl to see him cry he buried his head into his knees. The girl watched him cry softly into his knees. He was trying so hard to keep them in. She felt her heart go out to him. She went over to him and lifted his head up. His tearful eyes looked into her impassive ones._

_"It's okay," she said. "You can cry all you want. I won't tell anyone."_

_Luffy's face broke out into tears and he threw himself at the girl wanting to hold someone warm. The girl froze for a moment; she didn't expect him to throw himself at her. But, listening to his sobs she relaxed slightly. She lifted her worn hands to rub his back comfortingly._

_Luffy didn't understand why someone would do this. He didn't understand why a stranger would offer such kindness to him, another stranger. Her shoulder was so warm and she offered her warmth to him. He still didn't understand, but he suddenly wanted to be like her. He would offer others kindness as well. He would be like this girl…_

_They remained there, how long they didn't know and didn't care.

* * *

_

Luffy groaned. His head hurt like hell. Where the heck was he? He blinked sleepily as his hazy surroundings became clearer. He found that he was in some sort of run down room that had a broken bar stand across from him. Was he in some kind of inn?

Well, Luffy's simple mind refused to think any more, for his head started to hurt even more. He tried to move. His elbows hit something soft. Luffy blinked and looked down. There, right under him, was a girl with dirty hair and wide angry eyes.

BONK!

Luffy fell back and held his nose in pain. Ouch! Why the hell did that girl bonk his nose for? He turned and glared at her. She defiantly returned that glare.

"Why did you hit my nose?" he demanded angrily. She narrowed her orangey eyes dangerously.

"Why were YOU on top of me?" she snapped angrily her hands curling into fists. Luffy blinked clueless.

"How am I supposed to know? I woke up and you were there!"

"You were trying something pervert!"

"P-pervert!"

"Yeah!"

"But, YOU hit me!"

"I did it in self-defense!"

"But I didn't even attack you!"

"I bet you would have if I didn't hit you!"

"Uwah! I'm getting a headache!" Luffy raised his hands and clutched his head, squinting his eyes shut. His hands gripped his hair…wait…Hair? His hands searched his head. Oh crap. Where was it? Luffy opened his eyes wide in panic. He got on his knees and starting crawling around obviously looking for something.

Nami looked at the crawling boy her eyes twitching. What was with this guy? First he storms into the pub, then falls on her, yells at her, now he's crawling! ….Okay she'll admit, it was her fault that he fell on her. Maybe she shouldn't have hit him so hard…

"OI!" Nami blinked to see Luffy's face right in front of hers. On instinct she blushed, she had never been so close to a boy, but Luffy didn't notice that. He looked determinedly at her. "Where's boshi?"

"Boshi?"

"My hat!"

A look of realization dawned on Nami's face. "Oh you mean that old thing." She pointed to where the battered straw hat was. Luffy rushed over to it, picked it up and screamed.

"NOOO! BOSHI!" he wailed sinking to his knees anime tears flowing from his eyes. Nami rushed over to where he was sitting.

"What's wrong! Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. Luffy looked up at her, his eyes watery.

"There's a…" he started but choked on his words and started to wail again. Nami looked at him uncomfortably. 'What's with the waterworks?' she thought rubbing her head slightly. She sighed.

"There's a what?" she asked raising one eyebrow. Luffy stopped sobbing and shoved his hat into her hands.

"IT"S BROKEN!" he moaned miserably. Nami looked down at the hat and saw a huge gaping hole in it. She gulped. That was where she stepped on it…

"Sorry," she whispered meekly looking down. Luffy paused and turned to look at her.

"YOU did that?" he asked incredulously. Nami nodded weakly. "But why?" Nami opened her mouth to speak but closed it again when she realized she had nothing to say. 'What's wrong with you Nami?' she scolded herself. 'It's just a stupid old hat. Nothing special.' Even though she was thinking that, she felt immensely guilty for some strange reason.

"IT'S MY TREASURE!" he yelled all his anger finally showing. He raised his arm towards her as if to strike her. Nami closed her eyes. She deserved what she was going to get.

………..

Nothing.

Huh?

She opened her eyes and gaped at what she saw. The boy's arm (They still don't know each others' names!) was stretched! Stretched! She stared in fascinated horror as he stretched his arm back towards him. Luffy rubbed his head. Then he turned and saw Nami with her mouth wide open. Luffy laughed.

"You look funny!" he laughed happily. Nami stared at him in shock.

"What are you?" she asked breathlessly feeling slightly dizzy. Luffy laughed again and pulled his cheek. It stretched out. Nami yelped.

"I'm a rubber boy!" he said. Nami nodded weakly.

"Oh," was all she managed to say before losing consciousness. She slumped onto the floor and lay there. Luffy stared at her.

…….

"Why are you sleeping?"

* * *

**A/N: Well there you are! Please review! Constructive criticsm will probably be best, though compliments bad either... Anyways, can anyone guess the mystery girl in the beginning of the chapter? I thought I made it pretty obvious. PLEASE REVIEW!**

**P.S. I just listened to Sayaendo by NewS! It is so awesome!**

**BRAVO! BRAVO! Oira taichi meruda SAYAENDO**

**BRAVO! BRAVO! Tomo ni wakachitta namida**

**BRAVO! BRAVO! Oira taichi kyo mou SAYAENDO**

**BRAVO! BRAVO! Kake gaenonai ONE PIECE!**

**Yeah...that's just a little of it. Listen to it, it's awesome!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: 'ello(: Yes I updated, amazing isn't it? Argh well I've been dead for a year, completely giving up on fanfiction but I've started again. I'm sorry TT I hope you guys can forgive me and I'll start updating and writing a whole lot more xD**

**Yeah so...let's go!**

**Disclaimer: Psh I don't own One Piece. If I did it'd never get past the eleventh episode xD**

* * *

Luffy groaned with effort as he dragged the young girl along with him. My god, how could someone who looked so skinny weigh so much? He had carried Nami out of the old pub and was walking down the busy street. Some passersby gave him odd looks before continuing on their way. Oblivious to it all Luffy stopped at a bus bench heaving Nami onto it and plopping down beside her.

He looked at the girl lying down next to him. Why did she faint again? Was it because he was rubber? But—he'd always been rubber.

Well…not always…

Luffy's eyes narrowed slightly; a strange look on the normally cheerful boy's face. Lots of things had happened in the past, strange and evil things. Over the past ten years though, things had become slightly calmer. It was more…peaceful. The people involved were able to form and shape their lives. Luffy had been able to as well, living these last years in a carefree manner.

But he had a strange feeling that everything was going to change…things were going to change _soon._

Frowning, he looked at the girl again. Why'd he go through all this trouble in lifting her and taking her with him? It didn't matter did it? That broken down pub had seemed to be her home, even though it was a weird place to live. And if she woke up she might hit him again. Luffy inwardly winced at the thought. That girl had quite an arm. Okay—even more reason to stay away from her.

And—worse of all—she broke his hat. His _treasure._ His frown deepened when he looked at his straw-hat. It now had a huge gaping hole through it. So why…?

But, Luffy being Luffy did not dwindle on this thought for much longer because thinking too much made his head hurt. Besides…

His stomach growled loudly.

"I'm hungry!" he declared to no one in particular. He pouted slightly and started swinging his legs in a bored manner.

"I'm hu-nn-gr-y" he said in a sing-song tone but immediately stopped his swinging and singing when he heard a soft whimpering. Luffy blinked confused before turning his head to Nami next to him. Instead of lying lazily as he had left her, she was now curled up in a small ball and rocking slightly, tears running down her face.

Luffy, eyes wide jumped to his feet and kneeled in front of the girl wondering what he could possibly do to comfort her. After looking closely at her tear-streaked face he realized that the girl was still sleeping. He blinked again. A nightmare maybe? That was probably it.

Now she was muttering in her sleep. Luffy leaned closer straining his ears catching glimpses of what she was saying.

"Bellemere-san—Nojiko—no!—I can't--Gen-san, help me—Nojiko where are you?—Bellemere-san, no!—please stop—stop!—you monsters—!" Her slight whimpering had turned into more audible sobbing. Fists were clenched and teeth were gritted and she sobbed quietly into the cold wood of the bus bench.

Luffy stared at the girl expressionless. Nojiko? Bellemere-san? From the sounds of it, this girl—whoever she was—was calling out for her friends, her nakama. He looked at her. She reminded him of himself when he was younger. Except there had been someone to comfort him…

Not thinking twice Luffy sat beside the girl again and pulled her into a tight embrace. The girl sobbed louder and clutched at his red T-shirt. Luffy rubbed her back in what he thought was a soothing manner and waited as Nami's sobs subsided and soon she was sleeping peacefully.

Luffy inwardly groaned. Great. More lifting. And he had no idea where to go…

Except…

A huge grin planted on his face as he lifted Nami up again and started walking cheerfully. He knew exactly who could help them now.

* * *

On the busy highway; bumbling with traffic of various cars and trucks, a lone motorcycle sped on through the entire busy bustle, tires screeching as it turned. The rider, clad in a black leather jacket and helmet, had no intention of slowing down and seemed to be driving in a lot of different directions…as if it wasn't sure where it was supposed to be going.

It was an odd sight really. The motorcycle speeding in one direction, stopping suddenly, and then turning the other way, stopping again, and then going in the direction it started in.

It seemed that the driver had no sense of direction whatsoever.

Drivers honked their horns, clearly annoyed with the motorcyclist. The driver seemed to ignore them lifting up his helmeted head and looking both ways, seemingly deciding where he would drive next.

Hearing police sirens approaching he swore. He couldn't afford for the cops to catch him, especially since he was speeding and he didn't have a license to be driving a motorcycle in the first place. Hell, he probably figured he was underage. All thoughts of reaching his destination were erased from his mind and replaced with one thing—**get the hell away from here.**

Rearing up, he sped into the distance going as fast as he could. What the hell, they were chasing him for speeding anyways. So why not use the privilege to escape? He soon reached the downtown area which was even more crowded that back on the highway. He inwardly smirked.

Perfect. The police couldn't possibly hope to catch him here, though he should still keep his guard up. On the negative side, he was even further from his desired destination than before. Adding to his "wonderful" direction skills, he doubted if he could get there before sunset. It would be dark soon.

He could still hear the sirens. Damn these guys were persistent. He supposed it had to do with the fact that he was the motorcyclist they all wanted to catch—he had been speeding all his life anyways. It was "dangerous". He could kill somebody. Well he probably could. But he was a skilled driver. He'd never hurt anyone. The police should be making more of their time than chasing a mere underage driver like him. Wait—they _didn't_ know he was underage. Crap. Get him in even more trouble.

Well now that he knew the police wouldn't stop he turned into an alley and head out towards the suburban areas of the city, the quieter calmer region. He felt that he could slow down here—his bike needed a break anyways—when he saw something that took him aback.

A young boy dressed in a red vest and blue denim shorts—could barely be a teenager—was carrying a girl piggy-back style. The girl was unconscious and the boy was grimacing from the apparent weight.

The driver slowed down moving towards the sidewalk so that he was driving right next to the kids. The boy was completely oblivious to him and continued walking along, the girl threatening to slip from his grasp. The driver sighed. He couldn't leave these kids. It would be against his honor. Plus his conscience—or what he had left of it—would nag him about this FOREVER.

"Oi." He said it curtly and simply but it got the boy's attention nonetheless. He was met with black shining eyes and a wide grin. Damn. How could someone's smile be so wide?

"OI! Motorcycle-niichan!" The boy responded happily, stopping for a moment and putting the girl gently on the ground. The older boy grunted in reply stopping his bike as well.

"She's not going to like that she's on the floor," he said gesturing to the girl the younger boy had carelessly put on the sidewalk. "The female species doesn't like that very much," he added seriously.

The younger boy frowned. "Yeah you're right. She'll probably hit me if she wakes up. But she's _heavy!"_ He waves his arms to emphasize his point. The motorcyclist chuckles. This kid is kinda interesting.

"So you've known her long?"

"Nope."

"Er, then when'd you meet?"

"Today."

"How?"

"She knocked me unconscious."

_Okay…_the motorcyclist thought his eyebrows going up. But you couldn't tell anyways since he still had his helmet on. "So where'd you headed?"

"Makino's restaurant and hotel. It's where I live!" he pointed to himself proudly as if that was the best thing in the world. "Makino is really really nice. She's like my mom—only she's really young and—" The boy continued ranted and the motorcyclist nodded at the appropriate times though he thought the boy should just—

"Shut up!"

"Ara? Mmkay."

"Where is Makino's place?"

"By the beach! Isn't that cool?"

"What the he—the beach is _miles_ away. You'd never get there by tonight if you walk!"

"Ahh. That's true."

"Baka."

"Can you give us a lift?"

"Nani?!"

"Please? Motorcyclist-nichann—"

"Oi—Don't pull that puppy-eye thing on me!"

"D-Demo…."

The older boy finally pulled off his helmet revealing green hair, a scowled face, and three piercings in one ear. The younger boy immediately grinned.

"Marimo!"

"What the hell?"

"Marimo-niichan!"

"Shaddap brat!"

"So you can give us a ride?"

"ARGH!"

The green-haired boy scowled again, making his other scowl seem like a double scowl. It was quite funny actually.

"Fine."

"Really?!"

"Yes! Now shut up and get on before I change my mind!"

"Thank you!"

"Yeah yeah…put the girl in the middle so she doesn't fall off."

"Alright!"

"You on?"

"Yup!"

"Alright—let's go."

"Yosh!"

The green-haired boy looked up to the sky. _I must be mad…why the hell am I helping two kids out?_ He sighed. He knew he couldn't leave him behind. Plus—there was something about this kid that he felt he could trust. Like he'd follow him to the ends of the Earth or something. Aww what the hell? He looked back at his passengers. The boy had squished the girl in the middle and was holding on to her shoulders. He gave him another bright smile. This time, the older boy couldn't help but smirk in reply.

"I'm Zoro. Roronoa Zoro."

"Luffy!"

"Luffy eh?"

"Yup! And now you're my nakama!"

Zoro chuckled before slamming the helmet back on his head. "Whatever you say kid. Whatever you say."

* * *

**A/N: Meh, this was a really boring chapter--BUT! I introduced Zoro! YAY! Mmkay so I'll be bringing out a lot more characters and the real storyline will come into place...soon.**

**Anyways please review(: They make me HAPPY! 3**


End file.
